Due to the changes at Amazon CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing, my plans have changed slightly for the next few days. Well, they’ve changed completely.
I don’t think KDP is as good as CreateSpace. I don’t think it’s as easy to use. I don’t think it looks as professional. And it looks as though it may cost me more in the long run as KDP seem to insist that you order a physical copy of your book to proofread, at a cost including postage, before your book can go live. CreateSpace at least gives you the opportunity to download a pdf.
I may be wrong, and if I am, great.
But KDP doesn’t have the same cover designs as CreateSpace, and I’m in the middle of several series, which all need to at least look as though they belong to the same series. And KDP doesn’t seem to distribute to other booksellers. This is a biggie, as far as I’m concerned.
(EDIT: KDP have already responded and assured me I *can* proofread on screen. It also looks as though they *do* have extended reach. However, the KDP templates are complete pants to use as they require something like Adobe PhotoShop or InDesign. I don’t have *any* Adobe products, so I may have to quickly create some covers on CreateSpace before they turn it off.) (Or find another platform.) (Or go back to Lulu – but I have to order a proof copy there before they’ll distribute to other booksellers …)
So my change of plan is twofold this week:
- I need to finish the 4 books that are already in various stages of completion on CreateSpace so that I may proofread a free pdf and so that my covers all look the same. These will transfer over to KDP automatically, but they need to be complete.
- I want to research another platform – all suggestions welcome.
I already decided to publish ebooks on a totally separate platform to anything Amazon controls, but I was able to keep my cover designs for all books. Now I have another task added to my list, and that’s to probably move my entire ebook catalogue to Draft2Digital, where my sales are already exceeding Amazon’s Kindle sales.
So I have some research to do, and I have some work to do. Hopefully, you can watch out for the following new books coming out sooner than intended:
Two of the above are working covers, awaiting new photography. Two are final artwork.
Perhaps the following will also be released on Draft2Digital in the coming months:
And, of course, I need to finish these pair (both working covers as I’d like to send them both out on the traditional route, but if I end up self-publishing, they need to match the rest of their series):
Apologies for the change of plan and the temporary hiatus on all current projects. Normal service will resume as soon as possible.
Draft2Digital also reached Overdrive and bibliotheca now, which is great. I don’t like them as much as I liked Pronoun, but my publisher uses them for digital releases because the Amazon contract is not acceptable. Of course, Amazon doesn’t allow pre-sales via D2D, but, frankly, it’s worth it. I find that I get a lot of sales via iBooks/iTunes. Good luck!
Thank you. I cannot find a single platform that does all that CreateSpace does. Draft2Digital claim to print paperbacks too, but all I can find is a downloadable pdf that I can then take to another paperback platform. If I want to keep the paperbacks and hardbacks, it seems I have to learn it all from scratch and then pay for a proof copy before they release it for sale. It might be time for a total rethink …
Do you want to keep to On Demand, or do small print runs? It might be worth it to do the latter, if you can find a printer that is willing to do them for a decent price. A small publisher in the area uses two different printers, and he says you want to get a quote for between $2-3/finished book, because that gives you more flexibility with your own pricing.
At the moment I have to keep it on demand, but I may have to consider small print runs if I can’t find anything suitable.